— 84 — I wrote to him from Cairo, urging him to revolt (i).

At that time the Governor General of the Sudan was General Gordon, who believed these calumnies against me, and ordered the confiscation of all my property in the Sudan. He even despatched General Gessi to catch Suliman : several engagements took place, so I wrote to my son counselling him to surrender, which he did, only to be treacherously put to death. (2) When Gordon came to Cairo in 1884 there was a meeting in the house of (i) In an extract from a letter, dated May 13th. 1878, to Suliman and said to have been written by his father occur these words "This same Idris Ebter" (the Government representative) " do you accomplish his ejection by compulsory force, threats and menaces, without personal hurt, but with absolute expulsion and deprivation from the Bahr el Ghazal, leaving no remnant of him in that region, no son and no relation "... The same letter advised him against Said Bey, another Government Official. When Gessi captured Deim Suliman he found a letter from Zubeir to Suliman, containing instructions to him to rid the Bahr el Ghazal of Egyptian troops, and to attack and capture Shakka ; " Sbarazzate il Bahr el Ghazal dalle truppe egiziane, attaccate e impadronitevi di Sciacca."

Zubeir denies the authenticity of these letters, which were never tound, nor were they produced at the Court Martial held on him although careful search was made. Gessi could not read Arabic and it is more than possible that the whole of this correspondence (supposing it to have ever existed) was forged by Zubeir's enemies.

See Slatin ch. I.

(2) Gessi says himself p. 359 "I had Suliman and 9 ringleaders shot after an abortive attempt on their part to make my troops rise against me.

This was on 15th July 1S79. Slatin p. 7.

Slatin, p. 8 says tliis charge was concocted against him l)y the Uanagla who loathed the Jaali. See the account in chapter 1. of Fire and Sword in the Sudan.